The most striking feature of old traditional houses such as Chettinad mansion in Tamil Nadu, Tharavadu home in Kerala, and Guttina Mane in Karnataka is their non-dependence on modern technology and their use of nature to meet most of their basic needs.
Technology has played an important role in raising income levels substantially in India and the rest of the world. But it has also brought with it a new set of challenges.
Economic prosperity is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it helps us to fight diseases better, it generates better incomes, and it provides access to better education. On the other, [Read more…]
The number of Indian students choosing to pursue higher education abroad has seen an upward trend in recent years. Our student community is beginning to gravitate more and more towards foreign universities than our own.
The decision does not come entirely as a surprise when you consider not one Indian university ranks among the top 200 universities in the world. What ails Indian education system and in which areas do foreign universities score over their Indian counterparts?
Our education system mainly suffers from:
Introducing Your Child to Karma Yoga and the Concept of Nishkama Karma:
By Jayaram Rajaram
This post is for the parent only and must be used to guide children so they lead contented, healthy and happy lives.
The Bhagavad Gita has inspired millions of people for thousands of years and its teachings are timeless and relevant even today. A primary teaching by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battle field is the importance of Karma Yoga and Nishkama Karma. The meaning of Nishkama Karma is to do ones duty without worrying about the results. Arjuna (Representing the Pandavas) had to fight the Kauravas who were his own cousins. While he felt emotional, Krishna who was Arjuna’s charioteer cleared his doubts by saying, fighting bad people had to be done to protect good people. So, Arjuna felt relieved that fighting was his duty at that point and he had to do it to protect Dharma or righteousness.
Now several children are committing suicide because they do not get good marks. This is very sad and parents and teachers are sometimes largely to blame for this sad state of affairs. As parents it is our duty to tell our children that it is their duty to study to learn. We have to reassure them that no matter what the outcome or results are, we will love our children. Whenever children study, emphasize the importance of learning rather than focussing on the outcome. If the child is merely by hearting things, step in and help him/ her understand concepts logically wherever possible.
Similarly ask your children what problem in the world they wish to solve when they grow up? Two or three generations have been spoilt and have become unhappy because they have been asked what they want to become and the narrative has been ambition based rather than duty based. Ambition and desire are the root causes of unhappiness as per Sanatana Dharma. Many people believe lack of ambition is laziness. Nishkama Karma and Karma Yoga is all about action for the benefit and well-being of the world (All benefit that comes to an individual is merely a by-product of action that is done without hankering after rewards and recognition). Today even many doctors and hospitals focus more on how much they can earn rather than patient care. At least the next generation should start focusing on how they can help others by acting in the right way and spirit.
Tell children that duty for the sake of duty, no matter what job they take up, will keep them happy. Giving everything in life their best shot and not worrying about the outcome is the best way to nurture a stable, happy, peaceful and contented future generation.
This is a tough task, but this is must be the highest priority among parents if we are not to repeat the mistakes made by the west. Modern examples of Karma Yogis are Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and E Sreedharan (Delhi Metro).
You could ask your children the following questions:
What problem will you solve when you grow up?
If your child is younger, just ask them what they will do when they grow up and accept all answers while guiding them without putting too much emphasis on duty as their level of understanding may be limited till the age of 8. But use the word duty when they mess a room and make them put back their toys after they play etc.
Who will the work you do when you grow up help?
What is your duty as a kid?
Answer to this should be: Learn to the best of your ability (and don’t worry about marks), Be Good, Do Good, Be Happy
Do you know who the greatest and best people are?
Allow your child to answer and then emphasize that the best and greatest people in the world are those who help others by doing their duties wholeheartedly. So explain that even their grandmother / great grandmother are great for their selfless service to their families even if they never worked outside the home (This will remove money from the equation and recognize service and duty as something that is recognized and important). This way as parents we have to get it into the child’s subconscious that duty-bound action is better than ambition-based action and people with big bank balances, famous people and actors aren’t the real role models, unless of course they are good people who help others (Then they are worth emulating, provided they have all-round values worth emulating). Basically this will help your child treat everyone equally and understand that duties and rights are two sides of the same coin while slowly realizing that making money and becoming famous as a by-product is better than gunning only for riches and fame at any cost. They will also start understanding that an entitlement mindset* and fighting for rights without doing their duty is a sure-shot way to self-destruction and unhappiness.
*Children who grow up thinking the whole world owes it to them have very difficult lives.
Note: This has to be done carefully, as we should not paint a picture that money and rich people are bad, because this is not true at all. Nishkama Karma is about doing your duty well and not hankering after rewards. If you are an IT professional, by virtue of being in a job one must give it his / her 100% during office hours, go back home and play the role of a father/mother, husband/wife 100%. If a person is an entrepreneur he/she must work towards solving their customers’ problems and helping their employees and shareholders improve their lives (As a byproduct of this dedication to his / her duty the entrepreneur’s life improves, but that should not be the primary goal if one wants contentment and peace of mind). So Nishkama Karma and Karma Yoga is a shift in attitude and thought process which will definitely help anyone no matter what their background, ethnicity, nationality is, live a more balanced, happy, healthy, peaceful and fulfilled life.
Bring in the importance of dignity of labour by asking them to thank the bus driver / auto driver / maid for the service and help they render.
Build on this and as a parent keep course correcting based on the situation so your child knows what is expected of him / her.
Most importantly start practicing Karma Yoga and live the Nishkama Karma philosophy yourself (It is a liberating experience and definitely worth the effort). Also, our kids learn by watching us, so we have no choice but to live the life we want our children to learn and emulate!
Image Credits: www.blog.onlineprasad.com
Summer holidays are drawing to a close. All good things in life must come to an end and so must this. Come June and it is time to go back to school.
Hope you enjoyed every moment of your holidays. What is left of your summer holidays can be put to good use by taking a moment to reflect on the highlights of the summer holidays and also by planning for the year ahead.
Moment for reflection: Were you able to do all the activities you had planned during the vacation? What was the best moment of your holidays and what was the not so good moment? You have been probably lazing about quite a bit in the summer holidays, which is perfectly fine because you have earned it by working hard all year.
Kindness and Humility Always Beat Pride and Arrogance
By Jayaram Rajaram
Narrate the following story to your child:
Kubera, the God of wealth went to to Lord Shiva and Parvati in Mt Kailash to show off his wealth to them. He invited Shiva and Parvati for a meal so he could show off all that he had. Since Shiva and Parvati were busy, they offered to send Ganesha for the meal. Shiva warned Kubera that Ganesha ate a lot. But Kubera haughtily and in an arrogant tone said “Let him eat as much as he wants!”.
When Ganesha started eating, he ate and ate and ate till he ate up all the food. He then ate the furniture and Kubera’s palace and was still hungry. Kubera realized his foolishness and ran to Shiva and begged for his forgiveness. Kubera promised never to be so haughty and arrogant again. Pleased with Kubera’s realization, Shiva gave him a fistful of rice and asked him to give it to Ganesha. When Kubera gavve Ganesha the fistful of rice with love and humility Ganesha was satisfied and returned all his wealth to Kubera.
Ask your child: Are people important or things/toys?
If your child says “Toys”, ask him /her “Who gives you the toys?”
Your child will invariably say people. Then ask again -“So are people important or toys?”
Ask your child: Is showing off good?
Do your friends show off?
Do you like it when they show off?
You show off too sometimes.
Will Umachi / Bhagwan (God) like it if you show off?
Do you want to make the same mistake Kubera made?
What will happen if you show off?
Always share with your friends and be kind, or like Kubera you will lose friends and all your good things/toys.
Tell them: If you do good, you get good. If you do bad, you get bad. This is the rule of the universe and it is called Karma! Ask your child to repeat after you.
Image Credits: www.enjoyfestivals.com
The Importance of Women and How To Teach Your Son to Treat Them Well:
By Jayaram Rajaram
This is a very important story to narrate to children, especially to young boys:
A princess Savitri fell in love with a poor man called Satyavan. When Narada Muni (Saint) found out, he warned her that Satyavan had a short life and that he would die at an early age. Savitri said since she loved Satyavan very much, she would still get married to him. They tied the knot and after a few years as predicted by Narada Muni, Satyavan fell ill and died. On the day of Satyavan’s death, Savitri saw Lord Yama (The God of Death) himself and pleaded to him to give her her husband back and not take him away. Yama unmoved said nobody could stop death and carried on.
Savitri, without giving up easily, followed Yama for miles and miles. Yama, impressed with her determination and perseverance gave her two boons. He said, “Ask for any two things other than the life of your husband and I shall grant them to you.”. Savitri thought for a bit and asked 1. For the well-being of her father-in-law (Satyavan’s father), and 2. 100 sons! Yama said ‘so be it’ without giving it much thought. No sooner had he done so the clever Savitri said, “how can I have any sons without my husband?”. Yama conceded defeat and returned Savitri’s husband to her.
Ask your child what they understood from this story? Accept all answers as there are no absolute right or wrong answers, but correct them in case they say anything totally wrong by using your discretion.
You Ask: Do you know that women are very strong?
Your son may say, no boys are stronger.
You say: Do you think Savitri was weak? She even helped her husband come back from the God of death! Is that not strength? We call this Shakthi or mental power in India.
Also, boys may be physically stronger than some girls, but really strong boys are the ones who never hit or hurt anyone. Boys who hit and hurt girls are actually the weakest because those who hurt people and especially girls have no friends and are not liked by anyone.
You Ask:
Where did you come from?
How would life be without your mother?
Who prays for your well-being every single day?
Who do you go to when you feel sad?
Wouldn’t it be good if you can be good friends with boys and girls?
Do you know you can pray to Durga Ma to destroy your fear when you are scared? Durga and Kaali are women, but super strong! They protect us.
This story can also be used effectively with your daughters to teach them that strength is not merely physical and that Love and being kind is a woman (girl’s) biggest gift. Teach them that boys and girls are on the same team and can work together to achieve anything they wish for.
Note to Parent: Let’s nurture a generation where women Love for their rights and men fight for women’s rights whenever there is discrimination in mundane material/household matters, but without the compulsion where women feel the need to do everything men do and make men do everything they do, to prove their worth (Neither women nor men need not prove their worth and must be free to pursue anything they wish to for their personal satisfaction but in a manner that impacts their family, society, country and world at large positively rather than negatively). Equality today has become merely for materialistic things, but In India we worship the feminine as it is every man’s duty and responsibility to balance the feminine energy in his body through Yoga, Pranayama and meditation (Crimes against women and rapes can be greatly reduced if only our education system embraces traditional yoga and meditation daily from the age of 8 for all children. Even if your child’s school doesn’t offer it, I recommend all parents to enrol their child -son or daughter in a good yoga program with a proper Guru). All good and beautiful things like creativity, intuition and aesthetics are feminine and yoga and the finer aspects of life nurture this energy. All human beings have masculine and feminine energy within and balancing these energies leads to harmonious coexistence has been the belief in Sanatana Dharma for eons (Masculine and feminine are subtle energies and are very different from male and female in the gross physical sense). Somewhere along the way we forgot the essence of worshipping the feminine and made it just another ritual. One of the most powerful mantras in the world is the Gayatri Mantra and that mantra brings about a feeling of contentment and inner peace as it harmonizes these subtle energies within.
Image Credits: hinduism.about.com
Who goes through 9 months of intense physical discomfort, who stakes her own life to bring you into this world, who spends the best part of her life looking after you, who always gives you unconditional love, who starves, if necessary, so you can eat, who defends you with her life.
One could go on and on, but the series of queries above are clearly no-brainers. They are not questions, but a series of statements meant to remind ourselves to be grateful for the presence of the most special person in our lives – the very reason for our existence.
All great people in the world have one thing in common – a mother who believed in them, who encouraged them, who made them believe they were special in a way only mothers are capable of.
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
– Abraham Lincoln, American President
Our mother is our best friend, our first teacher, our constant guide, our most dependable confidante. Mothers are the only ones we can trust with our life.
Well, all of us have been recipients of her boundless love and kindness. But, have we returned the love and shown our gratitude for the privilege enough?
We all have, in our own little ways, for sure. Mind you, she never expects anything in return.
But, surely we could do a whole lot better than ringing her up on Mother’s day and wishing her.
No matter how old or young you are, you are still a child to your mother. So let us make a few pledges to ourselves on the Mother’s Day this year, and never let go of them.
We can never pay our debts to our mothers. Remember, there is only one of her in everyone’s life! At the very least, let us take a pledge to never hurt her by our words or deeds – probably the only thing every mother expects from her children.
A new mother’s ultimate ambition is to get a good night’s sleep. (Most would settle for sleep any time of the day.)
If she is lucky, her baby will sleep well enough to provide her some well needed respite and allow her to catch up on the much needed sleep – but strictly at the baby’s whims.
A sleeping baby is the most beautiful sight in the world. But sometimes they wake up in a nasty mood, sending the household into a tizzy. Usually the baby is just hungry and settles down once she is fed. And everybody heaves a sigh of relief.
They say a father never wakes up his second baby just to see her smile. Experience tells him that it is not a good idea at all. The first time around, he had a screaming baby to contend with, and worse, he had to explain his actions to the baby’s less-than-amused mother.
Putting children to bed is an art form. One needs to have loads of patience and privy to a repository of lullabies, songs, and stories depending on the age of the child.
A lullaby is also known as cradle-song and is a song sung to children with the intention of soothing them to sleep. The music is often simple and repetitive.
The lullabies are not restricted to their primary use as a sleep-inducer in babies. They have been used for 4000 years by various cultures to pass down cultural knowledge or tradition and to develop communication skills of the child.
So how do lullabies work their magic?
One explanation is that lullabies feature a triple meter(in simple terms, rhythm established by a poem), which imparts a rocking or swaying rhythm similar to what the fetus experienced while in the womb. Recreation of this womb experience has the power to comfort a children and soothe them off to sleep. (Credits: http://health.howstuffworks.com/)
It is clear that lullabies have a calming and soothing effect on the babies. Unsurprisingly, they actually reduce parental stress too.
Finally, here is a popular Indian lullaby in Hindi ‘So meri rani’ (Sleep my little princess)
Sleep my queen, sleep my queen
I’ll tell you the story of a king.
In the king’s fields grew golden grain,
A sturdy young man came to guard it
.….
….
Sleep my queen, sleep my queen
I’ll tell you the story of a king.
You can find a collection of lullabies here http://www.babycentre.co.uk/lullaby-lyrics
The famed Indian Summer is here and the dog days last a solid 4 months, starting March.
Mercury is already soaring in most parts of India and it would be June before we can expect anything resembling relief from the relentless heat, if rain gods are merciful this year, that is.
Summer months are hard to deal with as the energy levels are low. The heat saps the energy out of us and to make matters worse, the tempers tend to closely follow the mercury.
That’s enough scaremongering. Let us get down to exploring the ways to survive, even thrive, this summer.
Food in summer months needs to be healthful, light, and nourishing to keep our energy levels high and our body temperatures down. Here are some foods that can do the job for us.
At the very least, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and to avoid infections. Dehydration can creep in on us faster than we would like to believe is possible.
Outbreaks of cholera and diarrhea due to food contamination is common in summer. To protect yourself, stay away from food vendors as much as possible.
Sticking to home food is the best way to stay healthy during summer.